Kazakhstan denies talks on sending troops to Syria

ASTANA, June 23 (MENA) - Kazakhstan has refuted reports of talks with Russia on the possibility of sending troops to monitor the so-called "de-escalation" agreement in Syria, Radio Free Europe reported.

"Kazakhstan is not holding any talks with anyone on sending its troops to Syria," the Foreign Ministry said in a June 23 statement.

The statement comes a day after Vladimir Shamanov, head of the Russian State Duma's Defense Committee, was quoted as saying that Russia had asked Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to send troops to help monitor the de-escalation zones as part of attempts to end six years of civil war in Syria.

Turkish media quoted a spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as also saying that Russia had asked the two Central Asian countries about sending troops to Syria.

A spokesman of the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry said on June 22 that it had no information on the possibility of sending its troops to take part in military operations in Syria.